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San Francisco, 3:55 AM
Wed Nov 11
27 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Vulcan Has No Moon Vulcan Has No Moon
    11/07/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    "Who knows how much research into sexual selection has been flawed because researchers forgot the crucial ingredient of female freedom?"

    Female preference and how it steers the course of evolution is an area of study that hasn't gotten a lot of attention, but it isn't unknown.

    The water strider study parallel's a study done in mallard ducks. Over 70% of copulation is forced copulation by one or more males (rape/gang rape) . However, very few offspring result from forced copulation. Only about 3%. Female ducks have evolved highly elaborate reproductive organs to keep the undesirable males from impregnating them. Plus, they have the ability to store sperm from their chosen mates in their bodies for up to 10 days. #science
     Reply
    Vulcan Has No Moon was starred Vulcan Has No Moon was unstarred
    Image of corpore-metal corpore-metal
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    Bah! Who needs to be nice guy or a bad guy when you can be an evil genius and build all your own children or pleasure bots!

    (Peels of loud sardonic and slightly unbalanced laughter!) #science
     Reply
    corpore-metal was starred corpore-metal was unstarred
    Image of DrMathochist DrMathochist
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    Other studies of sex among water striders had kept the population contained in a limited area, where females had access to very few males.

    Compare this to the situation in more and more institutions of higher education, where the sex ratio is approaching (or even blowing straight through) 60% female.
     Reply
    Edited by DrMathochist at 11/06/09 11:41 AM DrMathochist was starred DrMathochist was unstarred
    Image of Vulcan Has No Moon Vulcan Has No Moon
    11/07/09

    @DrMathochist: The percentage of females in higher education would be even higher than 60% if those institutions of higher learning didn't practice "gender balancing". If they went by academic achievement alone, it would be closer to 80% female. #science
     Reply
    Vulcan Has No Moon was starred Vulcan Has No Moon was unstarred
    Image of Chip Overclock Chip Overclock
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    He's just not that into you. #science
     Reply
    Chip Overclock was starred Chip Overclock was unstarred
    Image of Cal Hawks Cal Hawks
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    The less aggressive ones got that "Quiet cool"

    They're like the Fonz! #science
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Cal Hawks was starred Cal Hawks was unstarred
    Image of Dresan Dresan
    11/06/09

    @Cal Hawks: Heeeey. #science
     Reply
    Dresan was starred Dresan was unstarred
    Image of Indigen Indigen
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    That's good for waterstriders. Now do you believe it has anything to do even remotely with humans?

    If you say yes, is there a way I can filter your content out?

    PS. Many insects eat their partners. #science
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Indigen was starred Indigen was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    11/06/09

    @Indigen: I didn't say it had anything to do with humans.

    But eating sexual partners is a good idea, right? Nom nom nom. #science
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Chuck Chuck
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    If the past week or two of critter sex articles have taught me anything, it's that I'd rather be a fruit bat than a water strider... #science
     Reply
    Chuck was starred Chuck was unstarred
    Image of Denza Car Denza Car
    11/07/09

    @Chuck: Sadly, that statement can't really be sung to the tune of El Condor Pasa. #science
     Reply
    Chuck promoted this comment Denza Car was starred Denza Car was unstarred
    Image of Chuck Chuck
    11/07/09

    @Denza Car: True, but an awesome idea nonetheless... #science
     Reply
    Chuck was starred Chuck was unstarred
    Image of Jes St.Lawrence Jes St.Lawrence
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    Deep thought:

    Water Striders don't consume alcohol. #science
     Reply
    Jes St.Lawrence was starred Jes St.Lawrence was unstarred
    Image of JRD_2 JRD_2
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    But Dinesh D'souza told me that altruism can't be explained by selection! Science must have it wrong. #science
     Reply
    tetracycloide promoted this comment JRD_2 was starred JRD_2 was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    11/06/09

    @JRD_2: be it men or water skates is it really altruistic behaviour if they're only doing it to get laid more often? #science
     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
    Image of JRD_2 JRD_2
    11/06/09

    @tetracycloide: Well... I think that would take more space than a blog comment to fully address but the first question is at what level are we "only doing it to get laid more often." If we're talking about humans the selfish gene argument would be that much of the altruistic behavior that we undertake without any conscious expectation of personal gain, whether getting laid or otherwise, is nevertheless preferentially selected because it contributes to gene propagation either in the form of personal reproduction or kin selection. So I might put myself at risk to help the lady in distress simply because I'm a nice guy who expects no reward, but I've evolved to be a nice guy because that strategy helped my ancestors get laid more often. #science
     Reply
    JRD_2 was starred JRD_2 was unstarred
    Image of nexialist nexialist
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    hm, what about gentleman-psychopaths? #science
     Reply
    Vulcan Has No Moon promoted this comment nexialist was starred nexialist was unstarred
    Image of Vulcan Has No Moon Vulcan Has No Moon
    11/07/09

    @nexialist: Dexter seems to be getting plenty of poon. Kahn Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) had no problem scoring with the ladies of Trek-verse. Heck, even Hannibal Lechter managed to hook up with Clarice. #science
     Reply
    Vulcan Has No Moon was starred Vulcan Has No Moon was unstarred
    Image of Nivenus Nivenus
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    From what I've read, heard, and guessed, it's not so much that girls like bad boys - it's that they like *confident* boys. And in general, rebellious, aggressive guys tend to be more confident than shy guys (duh). As a rule, I expect most women want somebody who's confident AND a gentleman but will settle for simply confident if necessary.

    Of course, not being a woman, I could have no idea what I'm talking about. #science
     Reply
    EBone promoted this comment Nivenus was starred Nivenus was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    11/06/09

    @Nivenus: We're one of the few species that have sex for sheer pleasure, instead of the biological imperative of maintaining the species. Most women I've spoken to on the subject almost all agree on one thing - they want the bad boy for the fun "sheer pleasure" times, but when they're ready to settle down and procreate, they switch to the nice guy. #science
     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of Althestane Althestane
    11/06/09

    @Nivenus: This study is also somewhat flawed if you want to try and apply it to human-mate selection. It's only conclusion is that the girl-striders have more babies with the gentleman-striders. It says nothing of the wild encounters and girls-night-out activities of the girl-striders, casually sexing it up with the prick-striders and then coming home to have their nice, stable, family-friendly gentlemen-striders. To say nothing of the emotional strife felt by the gentlemen-striders, left at home and expected to be good fathers to all the little egglings while mommy-strider acts like a whore! you can't have it both ways girl-striders!!!! #science
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Althestane was starred Althestane was unstarred
    Image of TemporalSword TemporalSword
    11/06/09

    @Nivenus: Every guy says they don't know what women want, but it's easy: they want it all.

    They want the bad boy AND the white picket fence. They want a job they like AND get paid well to do it. They want to have fun AND be responsible. Some things are just mutually exclusive, but they don't want to admit that. #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword was starred TemporalSword was unstarred
    Image of velleity velleity
    11/06/09

    @TemporalSword: Or, you know, women are not a monolith and different women want different things.

    Why, it's almost like they're regular people. #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword promoted this comment velleity was starred velleity was unstarred
    Image of TemporalSword TemporalSword
    11/06/09

    @velleity: I know, I'm generalizing based on a fraction of the world's female population that I've personally encountered, but I've seen it enough to know it's true far more often than not. It may not be fair, but a lot of bad apples ruin it for the rest (the same way jerks ruin it for the true nice guys out there, which I'm guessing at this point you don't think I'm one of). #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword was starred TemporalSword was unstarred
    Image of Nivenus Nivenus
    11/06/09

    @TemporalSword: I think that's a little unfair.

    I've certainly had some bad experiences but I don't hold it against the female population as a whole.

    And let's be fair - men sometimes want more than is reasonable as well. It's just human nature. #science
     Reply
    Nivenus was starred Nivenus was unstarred
    Image of Nivenus Nivenus
    11/06/09

    @Althestane: Oh, well that's certainly true. I was merely commenting on MY observations of human sexuality.

    It's a given I would expect that water strider mating habits are going to have only a marginal connection to human ones. They have about as much relevance (perhaps even less) as the mating habits of squid. Which is to say there isn't NO relevance, but it's pretty marginal to be sure. #science
     Reply
    Nivenus was starred Nivenus was unstarred
    Image of Nivenus Nivenus
    11/06/09

    @EBone: I'm sure that plays into it. But I think it goes deeper than that.

    A person who has no self-worth is simply not attractive. #science
     Reply
    Nivenus was starred Nivenus was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    11/06/09

    @Nivenus: Don't equate no self worth with being nice. #science
     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of Dr.Quatermass Dr.Quatermass
    11/06/09

    @velleity: Same goes for men.

    Have to point that out. #science
     Reply
    Dr.Quatermass was starred Dr.Quatermass was unstarred
    Image of Nivenus Nivenus
    11/06/09

    @EBone: I don't. But often what makes nice guys unattractive is their lack of such.

    I'm talking about myself, just so you know. I've spent a lot of time and effort trying to build my self-confidence. #science
     Reply
    Nivenus was starred Nivenus was unstarred
    Image of reddingofish reddingofish
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    The question for the male becomes, do you want children or do you want to get laid? #science
     Reply
    reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred
    Image of TemporalSword TemporalSword
    11/06/09

    @reddingofish: Well, if we're talking homo sapiens here, I think you know the answer for any male under the age of 30, and probably a good two-thirds of all males in general.
     Reply
    Edited by TemporalSword at 11/06/09 9:23 AM TemporalSword was starred TemporalSword was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    "Researchers also believe the females reponded poorly to the smell of Drakkar Noir and Jagermeister." #science
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of TemporalSword TemporalSword
    11/06/09

    @Pope John Peeps II: Or AXE and Mountain Dew Code Red. #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword was starred TemporalSword was unstarred
    Image of firstanointed firstanointed
    11/06/09

    @TemporalSword: Sometimes I think the male olfactory sense must be broken. Getting a whiff of their colognes is like being run over by a Coca Cola truck.

    Just sayin'..there's no need to use the whole entire bottle, guys. Unless you're stranded in the middle of the Arctic and the only way to find you is to sniff you out, just a dab will do ya. #science
     Reply
    firstanointed was starred firstanointed was unstarred
    Image of TemporalSword TemporalSword
    11/06/09

    @firstanointed: Heh. Unfortunately, most guys give in to an old instinct we have: when in doubt, more is ALWAYS better. #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword was starred TemporalSword was unstarred
    Image of burlybax burlybax
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    Next time Im at a bar, and I see a guy trying too hard and striking out, im going to pull this study up on my phone and explain it to him, and show him that he should be more like the water strider.. Im sure it will help tremendously
     Reply
    ManchuCandidate promoted this comment Edited by burlybax at 11/06/09 8:05 AM burlybax was starred burlybax was unstarred
    Image of ManchuCandidate ManchuCandidate
    11/06/09

    @burlybax:
    If by help you mean get beaten up for cockblocking him then yes.

    In my experience, those guys would never appreciate the help. #science
     Reply
    ManchuCandidate was starred ManchuCandidate was unstarred
    Image of burlybax burlybax
    11/06/09

    @ManchuCandidate: That's exactly what I meant... I live in Dallas, and Im sure it's the same way in every major city, or every city, but I've been threatened to be stabbed just for drunkenly walking up too close to doods at bars while they are talking to girls.. I usually laugh, sometimes I run though.. #science
     Reply
    burlybax was starred burlybax was unstarred
    Image of ManchuCandidate ManchuCandidate
    11/06/09

    @burlybax:
    Damn, don't mess with Texas if they're trying to get some. #science
     Reply
    ManchuCandidate was starred ManchuCandidate was unstarred
    Image of Gann Gann
    11/06/09

    @ManchuCandidate: Generally, Texans are some of the nicest people you'll meet. However our psychopaths are douchier than most, and for some reason they seem to be drawn here to Dallas. #science
     Reply
    Gann was starred Gann was unstarred
    Image of TemporalSword TemporalSword
    11/06/09

    In reply to Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
    This is not the case in broad human populations, where the nice guys always finish last. #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword was starred TemporalSword was unstarred
    Image of jaynesworth jaynesworth
    11/06/09

    @TemporalSword: As I've said before, "Nice guys don't get laid, pricks get laid." #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword promoted this comment jaynesworth was starred jaynesworth was unstarred
    Image of TemporalSword TemporalSword
    11/06/09

    @jaynesworth: Yeah. And the best part is, after said prick treats her like shit and leaves, she just whines about wanting to just find a nice guy...and then proceeds to find another prick. #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword was starred TemporalSword was unstarred
    Image of velleity velleity
    11/06/09

    @TemporalSword: Yeah, but often guys who say they are nice guys are just a different flavour of douchebag. #science
     Reply
    tetracycloide promoted this comment velleity was starred velleity was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    11/06/09

    @velleity: case in point, nice guys that complain that nice guys don't get laid all the time are really just pricks with no balls and nobody wants balless pricks. #science
     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
    Image of TemporalSword TemporalSword
    11/06/09

    @tetracycloide: Wouldn't that be a eunuch? #science
     Reply
    TemporalSword was starred TemporalSword was unstarred
    Image of Vulcan Has No Moon Vulcan Has No Moon
    11/07/09

    @TemporalSword: No, the guys who call themselves "Nice Guys" are seldom actually nice. Guys who go around whining "Nice Guys Finish Last" generally are the creeps who pretend to be a woman's friend and really are just hanging around pretending to care to get in their pants. Women, having excellent douche-dar, instantly realize the guy playing "Nice And Sensitive" doesn't really give f--k all about them, their feelings, or their beliefs. Women know when you're playing them. Please refer to the book "The Gift Of Fear" by Gavin De Becker.

    [jezebel.com]

    Hence the preference for "Bad Boys". Those guys are honest with you. They'll tell you right up front they don't give a flying f--k about a relationship. They tell you straight up they're horny and want to get laid....and honesty really can be the best policy sometimes.

    [jezebel.com]
     Reply
    Edited by Vulcan Has No Moon at 11/07/09 4:47 PM Vulcan Has No Moon was starred Vulcan Has No Moon was unstarred
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